The results of a collaboration between Oncoinvent and Sciencons researchers have been published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Biology.

The collaborators aim to develop a system to generate alpha-particle releasing radioimmunoconjugates that may be simpler and less time-consuming compared with current established methods used in clinical trials.

Alpha-particles have the potential to kill tumor cells very effectively and selectively. The radioisotope 212Pb, which causes the release of alpha-particle, has a half-life of 10.6 h which imposes time constraints to its practical application as a radioimmunoconjugate for cancer therapy.  The focus of the published research was to determine whether a rapid, efficient, and reliable production and purification procedure for generating a 212Pb based radioimmunoconjugate could be developed.

Key Conclusion

The current work demonstrates the feasibility of using a 224Ra solution as a shippable generator solution for producing 212Pb-based radioimmunoconjugates, which may be easier to execute and less time-consuming for the end user in comparison with existing ion exchange based methods.